Nani- The Hunchback Woman #A-ZChallenge2018

Nani was a hunchback woman who used to come to our para(neighbourhood) every day. Nobody knew what her real name was. Why everyone called her Nani (maternal grandmother) that also was unknown. Nani had no regular job. She was not a maid in anyone’s house like the other women who came to our para. She used to come with a huge cloth bag tucked to her waist and roam around the whole area. After the winter months, she used to pick up barren and dry branches, tuck them and go at the end of the day. Nobody knew where her home was. Probably she didn’t have a home. Often she was found spending the night on someone’s verandah or on the altar of some shop.

Nobody knew if she was Hindu or Muslim. There was a big temple in our area. On many days Nani used to sweep the courtyard of that temple to earn free prasad for lunch. She was often found diligently mopping the Muslim Mazar (Shrine) as well. She used to get money/warm clothes in exchange. Nobody ever bothered to ask her age. She looked quite old or perhaps looked older than her actual age, we don’t know. She was frail, had a hunchback and was bent from her waist, her skin was dry and heavily wrinkled, she had cataract in her left eye and the eyeball had turned white, even her right eye had poor vision, she always wore torn sarees without any blouse, I never saw her wearing any shoes. However, what I loved about her was the toothless grin. Whenever we met she used to flash her toothless grin.

It was a scorching summer afternoon and I found my dog barking a lot. I rushed to the verandah to see what was wrong and I saw Nani plucking guavas from the guava tree in our backyard. When she saw me she felt embarrassed and slightly nervous, as if I had caught her stealing something. She started avoiding me ever since that day. Honestly, I had felt nothing when I saw her plucking fruit. I would have given her if she had asked. Yet she started feeling guilty.

My live-in maid picked up this trivial incidence and spread a rumor to the entire neighbourhood that Nani was stealing guava from our backyard. Soon similar stories started cropping up. An aunty said that Nani had stolen her sari, another woman said that she had stolen her shoes, everybody in the locality started saying that the bag she carried with her was full of stolen stuff and within no time Nani was branded a thief. Each time she entered our locality the security guards used to chase her away. Gradually, she stopped coming.

One day, while coming back from college I met Nani. She was sitting in the tea shop on top of the road and nibbling on a piece of bread. Probably, she had cleaned the tea-shop to earn that piece of bread. On seeing her I went near her, she looked up at me but the toothless grin was missing, I could see a stern hatred in her cataract clad eyes. I mumbled almost inaudibly ‘how are you?’ but she didn’t reply and looked away. I stood there like a moron for some time with everyone else looking at me.

Years passed and almost everyone in the locality forgot about her. In fact who even cared for her in the first place? I had also left my Dad’s place and shifted to Hyderabad. Then one day during our usual calls my dad mentioned casually that Nani was hit by a truck and her mangled body was found near the highway. People identified her from the cloth bag that she always carried with her. Police tried looking for her family members but found none. Nobody claimed her body and she was cremated by Police along with other identified bodies. I couldn’t hold my curiosity and asked what was found in her bag. My dad said nothing other than some torn and tattered clothes, and coins worth hundred rupees. I hung the phone and the white eyes and the toothless grin flashed in front of my eyes. I could feel the wetness in my eyes. Probably that was the only drop of tear shed for Nani by anyone.

We have so many of such characters living around us but we choose to ignore their existence simply cause we cant be bothered. Sad to hear about her Balaka; I love how you are bringing them to life everyday with your writing!

Shalz, writing these memoirs are cathartic for me. They have been inside me since ages, waiting to be told. I am glad that finally I told them. Thanks dear for reading them and appreciating them. It means a lot.

I am sad for nani too! We come across such characters in our life. We don’t care for them unless they are not visible anymore. Then we wonder what happened to them. I had a toothless beggar coming to my home. She had cataract and the spectacles she wore was bound together with a piece of string, not a very good job though. My mother would give her food, but she was not content and would ask for money. No idea where she came from or where she went. Twice a week, she would come. Your piece has evoked those memories and now I wonder what became of her. She was old then, practically ancient. No one knows what happened to her, she stopped coming to our society, all of a sudden, and no one wondered why. Such is the truth of life! That there is no tears shed for homeless people. Thanks for writing this Balaka, it makes us feel for others for a while.

I loved your memory. We all have met these kinds of people but they never stay in our mind for long. We are so busy thinking about our own lives that we never care to think about them. I am glad that you shared your memory in such a poignant way.

So true Balaka. We have so many things and people to juggle every day, who would think of a poor homeless peron. That’s the reality of life, whether one likes it or not. Thanks so much. Your stories help me evoke my memories and touch base with my past.

Every post of yours for A to Z is a real life story about real people who you met in your life. But, the way you have written about every soul, expressed your feelings about them shows how lovely you are as a person, as well as how large hearted you are! Whoever the person may have been – a homeless old woman, or a mentally deranged woman, you have painted their picture so beautifully, the way every human being must be looked at, accepted as — a human being, just that! Well done!

I want to think that there were others who saw Nani and appreciated her for who she was. I feel sorry for the mean hearts who needed to spread rumors about the woman. May she find peace in her leaving Earth. And that is how your story affected me. 🙂